Some of what I see and who I am

Day 16: Lincoln City to Newport, OR

2011/07/22

Day 16: Lincoln City to Newport, OR

Miles: 25

What I rode by: Guy in a tree

Today was a relatively short day because we planned to stop at the bike shop in Newport (Bike Newport) to do our laundry. We had been hearing about this bike shop since we hit Oregon because they cater to touring cyclists. They have free showers, laundry, and a cyclists lounge to hang out in. They also re-fixed my formerly broken spoke because the first repair was janky. While at the bike shop, we met an energetic (an understatement) Canadian named Andrew, who was also touring south. He showed up later that night at our campground, where we saw the Canadians again and met a couple from Las Vegas.

Perhaps the best part of the day was the tip we got from the bike shop owner about the butcher at the local market down the street, who happens to fancy himself as a smoker. Smoking meat and fish is BIG in the Pacific Northwest. In fact, when the Lewis and Clark expedition reached the Pacific Ocean 200 years ago, a few lucky men got to spend the winter at what’s now known as Fort Clatsop boiling see water for salt so the expedition could cure meet. Anyway, this butcher smokes chicken and this was perhaps the best dinner we’ve had on our trip so far.